Tamiya 1/12 Red Bull Yamaha WCM
YZR 500 '99

By Tony Paton

As a big 500Gp bike racing fan, I was excited when Tamiya started releasing 500Gp bikes again. They started off with the Repsol Hondas of the 1998 and 99 season (see Decembers Reader gallery for a real bad photo of these two bikes.)As I'm a big Michael Doohan Fine (five times world champ) I made both versions and enjoyed the challenge. The latest edition is the striking scheme of the Red Bull Yamaha 500 Gp machine.

History

The Red Bull company, makers of sports drinks from Austria, started sponsoring the WCM Yamaha team in the Middle of 1997. In 1998 they had their first win at the British grand prix with the New Zealander, Simon Grafer riding to victory. The 1999 season was a turbulent one for the team. After the seventh race of the season, Grafar departed the team with no reason given. In his place, Australian rider Gary McCoy joined the well-established Regis Laconi in the team. At the grand prix of Valencia , Laconi won the event with McCoy getting his first ever podium in third spot. Most fans can remember the four-way battle between McCoy, World Champion Creville, Gobert and Okada at the Rio grand prix near the end of the season. McCoy had his Yamaha sliding all over the place – it was a spectacle to watch! The team was rocked later in the year with Red Bull pulling out of sponsoring the team for the 2000 season. It was a baffling decision as the team were improving at each race throughout the year. The race is on for new sponsors and by going by their recent performances, it shouldn't be hard to fulfill.

In the Box

What can I say but this is what you would expect from a Tamiya kit. There are four sprues (approx. 100 parts) that come in their own plastic bags to avoid damage. Two are in white, which mainly consist of the bodywork, exhausts and the handlebar/fork assemblies. The next is gray which is the engine, frame and wheels. The last is clear for the windscreen where there are two options depending on which driver you wish to represent.

There are no chrome-plated parts as there were in the Honda GP kits. This is due to the fact that the Yamaha has a black frame.

Then comes the 'bag of goodies' which includes the large rubber racing tires, plastic tubing for brake lines etc, screws and a small handy screwdriver. Screws? I hear you all say? Yes, they are employed to hold the wheels, front steering fork and body panels in place. They work very well as trying to use glue may in fact ruin the bodywork and that could get annoying.

There are three decal sheets that come with this kit, but there are not many decals to apply. Due to the fact the bike is one color, the largest decals are the Red Bull logos. The medium sized sheet has the carbon fiber decals for the exhaust and black decals for the windshield sun visor. Last being the very popular tire decals that come in most Tamiya Auto kits these days.

The instructions appear to be simple to follow. There are options for three riders (Laconi, McCoy & Crafar). You must decide which rider you would like to represent as different options appear near the beginning of the instruction sheet. They also call out for the new Tamiya metallic paints, which are not available in my country (Australia). They are X-31 (Titanium gold), X-32 (Titanium silver), X-34 (metallic brown).

I can't see any problems with this kit, but putting the front forks together looks a bit complicated and some care should be taken when you arrive at this stage.

I believe that this would be a simpler kit to build than the Honda, which was a bit complicated, especially in the areas of painting and applying decals to the body fairing. I would recommend this for a starting point if you want to jump into building 500GP bikes before attempting the previously mentioned kits. Personally I can' t wait to start mine!